Former President Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa may soon face the House of Representative Quad Committee’s hearings into illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators and alleged extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
Asked if the mega panel is considering inviting Duterte to its hearings, House QuadComm co-chair and Manila 6th District Rep. Benny Abante said, “Yes.”
This, after the hours-long QuadComm hearing, which started Friday morning and ended early Saturday morning, where former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Royina Garma said Duterte had asked her then to look for an officer that would implement on a national scale the “Davao model” of the drug war, which rewards the killing of drugs suspects.
“The thing is — ayaw naman namin na tumagal nang ganito. If we’re going to invite him, siguro kaunti lang. Siya lang siguro,” Abante said.
(The thing is — we wouldn’t want it to last this long. If we’re going to invite him, maybe for just a while. And maybe, just him.)
Abante said the House human rights panel, which he chairs, previously sought Duterte to attend its hearing amid its probe into alleged EJKs during the latter’s presidency.
But, Abante noted, the former president “wasn’t able to come.”
Bato may be invited too
Asked if the invite to QuadComm hearings will also be extended to Duterte-allied senators Bato dela Rosa and Bong Go, Abante said: “Maybe Sen. Bato, yes, because he has to answer a lot of things.”
In the same QuadComm hearing, alleged drug lord Kerwin Espinosa accused Sen. Dela Rosa, former national police chief under the Duterte administration, of pressuring him in 2016 to link former Senator Leila de Lima and businessman Peter Lim to the illegal drug trade.
Dela Rosa was also previously invited by Abante’s human right committee, but the senator declined, citing inter-parliamentary courtesy.
Abante said Dela Rosa “might just maintain” the same reason.
“Nire-respect naman namin iyon. Although kami naman, kapag ini-invite kami ng Senado, nagpupunta kami,” Abante added.
(We respect that. Although on our part, when the Senate invites us, we come.) — BAP, GMA Integrated News
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